Expert advice on how to protect your hearing at live gigs

As the weather improves, more and more people will be heading to concerts and festivals where they will be in close proximity to blaring music. While that seems very fun, young adults have been warned to be mindful of the affects the exposure to listening to music at dangerous levels can have on their hearing.

Recent studies have found that nearly half of people aged 18-44 are suffering from a form of hearing loss. The report carried out by Specsavers spoke to 2,151 Brits and revealed that one in eight (12%) young adults attend gigs or concerts at least once every three months.

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Other unsafe listening practices were revealed in the study, like listening to music at high volumes through headphones, which 50% of participants admitted to doing and receiving a 'noise alert' telling them to lower the volume. To which a further 42% of case studies said they ignored the notification when it popped up on their iPhone.

Globally, an estimated 1.1 billion people could be at risk of hearing loss due to unsafe listening practices, according to WHO. With people partaking in unsafe listening practices and attending gigs where loud music is often played, Specsavers chief audiologist Gordon Harrison detailed two key ways that people can protect their hearing at live gigs to reduce the risk of hearing-loss in the future.

Limit loud noises - not just through headphones

"If you’re out at a particularly loud event, such as a concert, you could look at where the speakers are when you enter the venue, and stand as far away from those speakers as you can," Gordon said.

"It might sound obvious, but music is not the only source of loud noise. Places such as sporting events and cinemas are loud, or even watching films in your own front living room at a high volume, especially if you're using a sound bar."

Live gigs? Try hearing protection

“It might seem silly to go to an event that you’ve paid for, and block some of the sounds you are there to hear, but that isn’t what hearing protection does. Instead, it will allow you to listen to the gig or concert, while protecting the auditory system from damage to the hair cells when listening to extreme bass or drum noises," he advised.

"By wearing hearing protection, not only are you reducing the risk of hearing damage for the future, but you’re also preventing that ringing sound in your ears that can occur after being exposed to loud noise.”